Goat Cheese Stuffed Peperoncinis

We went to Thanksgiving dinner hosted by Brian's cousin and I decided on a whim to bring a little appetizer made up of my two favorite things, something pickled paired with any kind of cheese. So I invented these. I did some research and found that someone else had made them as well but they didn't use goat cheese and they included a sauteed bell pepper and onion mix. I suppose that would be ok too, but I like my recipe better.

Yummy!

 The receipe goes like this-

What you will need

1. 32 oz jar of Golden Peperoncini (pickled peppers) mild or hot your preference, and the bigger the peppers are the easier they will be to stuff

2. 4 oz of softened or room temperature cream cheese.

3. 4 oz of softened goat cheese, your choice of style or brand

4. 1/4 cup of crumbled bacon

5. 1/4 cup of grated sharp cheddar cheese

6. 1/8 cup of chopped green onions or chives

7. 1 tbsp of milk

8. Flat leaf Italian parsley for garnish (optional)

What you will do

Fry up the bacon in a pan and do what ya gotta do to crumble it and set it aside. Do a fine chop with the green onions and set them aside as well.  In a bowl mix the cream cheese, goat cheese and milk till its a smooth consistancy kinda like frosting on a cake, add more milk if you need to. Throw in the bacon once its cooled off but save about a tbsp to garnish, throw in the grated cheddar, as well as the green onions again save some of the onions as a garnish. 

Next, get a plastic sandwich bag, the zip-close bags work the best, spoon the mixture into the bag and squish it down to one of the corners, clip the corner, make sure its big enough that the bacon pieces can fit through and set aside.  Grab your peppers and one by one make a slit from the stem length-wise to the tip of the pepper, careful not to slice the pepper all the way through to the bottom part (leave the stem attached btw). Once you've sliced all the peppers, grab your cheese filling and start piping it into each pepper. Note: This is monotonous work but it's so worth it. Once the peppers are filled and arranged on your platter sprinkle with the left over bacon and onions and garnish with parsley(optional). Its probably a good idea to cover them and put them in the fridge for about 30 minutes or until you are ready to serve them. 

Enjoy! 

Oh yeah, and I had a bit of the filling left over so we enjoyed it on crackers the next day, would also be good in celery.

Delicious asparagus!

I attended Burning Man this year and pickles were a big hit, I even heard someone say through a megaphone, way too early in the morning to be using a megaphone I might add, "pickles are the new bacon" which I totally agreed with, however, not only did I enjoy our favorite pickled cucumbers, and peppers but someone in camp had pickled asparagus. It was delicious. And it goes like this.

 

What you will need

• 30 asparagus spears
• 1/3 cup coarse salt
• 2 quarts cold water
• 1 2/3 cups distilled white vinegar
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 teaspoon mustard seed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dill seed
• 1 white onion, sliced into rings
• 1/2 teaspoon chili pepper flakes
• 2 sprigs fresh dill

What you will do

1. Trim the cut end of the asparagus spears, and cut them into 3 inch lengths. Place them in a large bowl with 1/3 cup salt, and cover with water. Let stand for 2 hours. Drain and rinse under cool water, and pat dry.
2. Sterilize two pint size wide mouth jars in simmering water for 5 minutes.
3. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the vinegar, sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt, mustard seed, dill seed and onion rings. Bring to a boil, and boil for one minute.
4. Pack the asparagus spears, tips up, in the hot jars leaving 1/2 of space from the rim. Tuck one dill sprig into each jar, and sprinkle in 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes. Pour hot pickling liquid into the jars, filling to within 1/4 inch of the rim. Wipe rims with a clean damp cloth, and seal with lids. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
5. Cool to room temperature. Check seals when cool by pressing the center of the lid. It should not move. Label and date; store in a cool dark place. If any jars have not sealed properly, refrigerate and eat within two weeks.

How To Pickle Anything Even.... Eggs?

Basic pickle instructions from Instructables
There is also a pdf download available.

But today I'm gonna talk about a European favorite..... PICKLED EGGS! Yup, I said it, pickled eggs. Like they say, don't knock it till you try it.  I'm sorry I don't have any pictures to go with the recipes below, but someday when I take some I'll post them.

First things first, in order to pickle the eggs first you have to hard boil them. That's why I will first tell you how to make the perfect hard boiled egg and peel it too!


What you will need

-Egg(s) duh
-Salt
-Water
-Heat source
-Pot (the kind for cooking)


What you will do

Put the egg(s) in the pot fill the pot with room temp water until the eggs are fully covered, set the stove to medium heat When the egg reaches a full or rolling boil cover the pot and start your timer for 7 minuets. When the timer goes off, put the pot in the sink and run cold water into the pot for 2 - 3 minutes, then with a spoon remove them and put them in a bowl in the fridge for no less than 30 minutes.

When they are cool enough to peel, take the egg and hit it on a hard surface, turn it 90 degrees and hit it again. then squeeze the middle until its cracked all the way around. Then, with your fingernail, begin to peel the egg, note: there is a "skin" type layer under the shell you'll want to get under the that too. The shell should come right off with no problems.


Now the fun part!

Pickled Eggs


What you will need
 
-Hard boiled eggs (peeled)
-Malt pickling vinegar
-Salt (2 tbsp)
Spices (either pickling spices or your own mixture of spices)
I recommend the following
Dried chillies
Cloves
Cardamon pods (split)
Black pepper (cracked)
-A sauce pan with a lid
-A clean glass jar


What you will do


To the pot add a pint of pickling vinegar (6% acidity) and your spices cover and heat on medium-low heat for 1 hour before binging to a boil.

Meanwhile add the cold peeled eggs to a clean glass jar. Then carefully pour the boiling vinegar over the eggs. Let some of the heat release before you put the lid on the jar, about 5-10 minutes. Store the jar in a dark room temperature place for about a week, the longer they are stored the tougher they will get but they will also be more flavorful.
 
Most ingredients can be changed, but it is important to use good eggs, strong vinegar and flavorful spices.

Different parts of Europe use different kinds of vinegar so feel free to switch it up. Note that the color of the vinegar will change the color of your eggs as well.

 Now ENJOY! be creative! Pickled deviled eggs? Pickled egg salad? Pickled eggs added to a warm spinach, mushroom bacon salad? The sky is the limit.

The Pickled Pumpkin

what you will need

• 1 5 pound pie pumpkin (use pie pumpkin only)
• pickling or kosher salt
• 2 cups sugar plus 3 cups sugar
• 1 cup white vinegar plus 3 cups vinegar 
• 1 Tbs whole cloves
• 1 stick cinnamon plus 4 sticks cinnamon
• 1 Tbs whole allspice
• powdered alum
• sterilized canning jars, bands and lids

What you will do

1. Peel and seed the pumpkin and cut into 1 inch cubes. Put in a glass bowl, pour water over to cover and add 4 tablespoons kosher salt for each quart of water. Leave the pumpkin overnight or for at least 5 hours.
  
2. Next day, drain the pumpkin cubes and rinse them well. Rinse the bowl well and put the pumpkin back into the bowl. In a medium pan, combine 1 quart water, 2 cups of sugar, 1 cup of vinegar, 1 Tbs whole cloves, 1 stick cinnamon and 1 Tbs allspice. Bring the mixture to a boil and boil for 5 minutes over medium-high heat. This is a syrup so be careful that it doesn’t boil over or you’ll have a mess on your stove.
Remove the pan from the heat and pour the syrup over the drained, rinsed pumpkin.
Let stand in a cool place overnight (refrigerator is fine, but bring to room temp prior to packing into jars)


3. The next day, get your jars and lids ready: Fill your canning pot (or any large stockpot) halfway with water and bring to a boil. Put your canning jars into the pot (either using your canning rack or a pair of tongs) and allow to simmer for 10 minutes. Lids and bands can be sterilized separately in another pot of simmering water.You want the jars dry when you fill them so after the ten minutes, remove the jars with tongs and place on a clean, dry towel. Lids and bands can sit in the water until you’re ready.
Make sure you have several ultra-clean, lint-free towels on hand. A wide-mouth canning funnel is very helpful, but not necessary.
Keep the water in the canning pot boiling while you finish the next steps.


4. Remove the pumpkin cubes from the syrup and distribute the cubes among your sterilized canning jars, filling the jars up to within 1 inch of the rim with pumpkin cubes. Break up the remaining cinnamon sticks and slide one piece down into each jar with the pumpkin.


5. Pour the syrup into a saucepan and add 3 more cups of sugar and 3 more cups of vinegar. Bring back to a boil.


6. Remove the syrup from the heat and ladle into the jars over the pumpkin cubes. Make sure the cloves and allspice are evenly distributed among the jars. Fill jars to within 1/2 inch of the top.Wipe the rims carefully with a damp lint-free towel and add one little pinch of powdered alum to each jar.


7. Before placing lids on jars, wipe the rubber-coated outside perimeter free of water and place them squarely on the rims. Screw on the bands, firmly, but not too tight. Place the jars back into the boiling hot water bath and process for ten minutes.


8. After processing, remove the jars and place on a tea towel to cool. As they cool, the lids should snap down with an audible “pop.” This means the jar is sealed properly. If any of your lids do not pop down (or if you can still push the lid down) you can either re-process, or just put the jar in the fridge after it’s cool and use the pumpkin within 10 days.  Leave the properly sealed jars in a cool place for at least 1 week before eating.

Next post will be about picking around the world

Happy Halloween!

Yummiest EVER Pickled Garlic

What you will need

6 heads garlic

4 cups white-wine vinegar

4 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

4 whole cloves

2 small dried chiles

1 dried bay leaf

Rind of 1 lemon

What you will do

1. Trim the garlic heads, leaving the stem intact and

peeling off all but 1 layer of papery skin. Set aside.

2. Combine the vinegar, sugar, peppercorns, cloves,

chiles, bay leaf, and lemon rind in a medium

saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat; boil 2 minutes

more. Add the garlic; boil 4 minutes.

3. Remove from heat; cover, and let sit overnight

in the refrigerator. The garlic may be canned, placed

in a sterilized jar, or stored in the refrigerator in an

airtight container up to 1 month.

Coming up next, pickled pumpkin.

Happy Halloween!

My dinner isn't that pig I just dissected in science class is it???

A lot of people don't know this but, knowing the "in's and out's" of food is a science, whether you are eating it, cooking it or just :) preserving it.

Put a block of cheese in the freezer, yes, it freezes, then it turns to chalk, do you know why?

Forget about those mushrooms you bought last week, what happens?.... Slime.

OHH and they hate water NEVER submerge them in water to clean them, they are like little sponges that will soak up the water and taste just terrible in your salad or pasta, just wipe them, AND.. do not salt them in the early stages of cooking them the natural flavor will be camouflaged.

O.K. I know way too much about mushrooms. Never mind where they grow ;)

Tomatoes? They don't like to be cold, they like room temperature, they will last longer that way.

An unripe avocado will ripen in a paper bag in a matter of hours, and halt its ripening if you put it in the freezer.

Never store a tomato and a lemon OR lime in the same "room temperature bowl" even though they go lovely together on fish or even in salsa, they don't play nice when they decide to oxidase each other.

WHY????

Its chemistry, its physics, it's even biology.

Once you have "broken down" your thinking that food is only for consumption and nothing happens before or after you put it in your mouth, you will probably be a much happier, healthier food, consumer.

Ok class is over you may all be excused.

Quick pickles? Yes Virginia, they do exist.

Refrigerator Pickles

What you will need

Brine -

1 cup water
1 cup white vinegar
2 – 4 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
1 tablespoon kosher salt
½ cup sugar
Allspice, whole. 4-6
cloves, whole, 2-6

Vegetables to Pickle-

Beets, cooked whole, peeled, and slice
Green beans, washed, heads snapped off
Zucchini, washed and sliced

Seasoning Vegetables
1 onion, sliced and then separated
1 -4 jalapeño peppers

2 one quart canning jars with lids

What you will do

Put all the ingredients for the pickling brine into a pan and heat to a boil. The quantity of garlic, allspice, and cloves is up to you. If you like big flavors add more, if you have a shy palate perhaps you might like less.

Prepare the vegetables your using and then arrange them in the jars, alternating layers of the vegetable with the onions and the jalapeños filling the jar to the top. Pour the hot pickle brine into the jars. Tightly lid the jars and place in the refrigerator for 7 to 14 days before serving

Almost time to harvest lemons!

How to Make Preserved Lemons

Many Moroccan and Middle Eastern recipes call for preserved lemons or lemons that have been pickled in salt and their own juices. It's very easy to do, it just takes some time, at least three weeks before the lemons are ready to use.

What you will need

8-10 Meyer lemons - scrubbed clean

1/2 cup kosher salt

and possibly freshly squeezed lemon juice, if needed

1 Sterilized quart canning jar

* You don't need to use Meyer lemons, regular lemons will do, it's just that the milder Meyer lemons work very well for preserving in this way.

What you will do

1. Place 2 Tbsp of salt in the bottom of a sterilized jar.

2. One by one, prepare the lemons in the following way. Cut off any protruding stems from the lemons, and cut 1/4 inch off the tip of each lemon. Cut the lemons as if you were going to cut them in half lengthwize, starting from the tip, but do not cut all the way. Keep the lemon attached at the base. Make another cut in a similar manner, so now the lemon is quartered, but again, attached at the base.

3. Pry the lemons open and generously sprinkle salt all over the insides and outsides of the lemons.

4. Pack the lemons in the jar, squishing them down so that juice is extracted and the lemon juice rises to the top of the jar. Fill up the jar with lemons, make sure the top is covered with lemon juice. Add more fresh squeezed lemon juice if necessary. Top with a couple tablespoons of salt.

5. Seal the jar and let sit at room temperature for a couple days. Turn the jar upside down ocassionally. Put in refrigerator and let sit, again turning upside down ocassionally, for at least 3 weeks, until lemon rinds soften.

6. To use, remove a lemon from the jar and rinse thoroughly in water to remove salt. Discard seeds before using. Discard the pulp before using, if desired.

7. Store in refrigerator for up to 6 months.

Note:

You can add spices to the lemons for preserving - cloves, coriander seeds, peppercorns, cinnamon stick, bay leaf.

The Idea behind 'Pickle Me This'

The idea behind pickling is this:

Pickling is a way to take a food item that has an early-ish expiration date and prolong its life.

I don't know who started it, The Chinese, The Polish, The Germans, The Japanese.... Who knows? All I know is no matter where in the world we are, we all pickle, and we all do it differently. The very idea of adding salt, and vinegar to a product was a way to know you would still be able to consume it in a year or two or three! And somehow, someone at every corner of the globe, figured that out at some point.

Pickling isn't just putting cucumbers in a jar with salt, sugar, dill and vinegar. Pickling can be anything from making the best pickled cucumber ever, to making chutney out of figs and balsamic, to canning your own marinara, we don't think of it like this, but preserving any item is pickling, with that in mind I am going to explore the world of pickling from kimchee to lemon preserves to pickled tomatoes to okra, cabbage, heck, even fish!!!! And that is why my first post on this blog is pickled watermelon, two reasons, 1. I saw the recipe in a cookbook recently that was circa 1950 and 2. pickled watermelon?????

All around the world people pickle things in one way or another, we can pickle just about anything ............. Pickle Me This.................

You can pickle ANYTHING, even watermelon!

What you will need

• 9 cups water
• 1/2 cup salt
• 11 cups watermelon pieces (cut from rind, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes)
• 2-1/2 cups white vinegar
• 5 cups sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

What you will do

In a large bowl, stir the water and salt together. Add the watermelon and let stand overnight.

Drain the watermelon, rinse, and drain again. In a large saucepan, combine the vinegar, sugar, cinnamon stick, ginger, and lemon juice. Bring to a boil and add the watermelon. Return to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the cinnamon stick. Loosely pack the watermelon into jars. Return the syrup to a boil and boil for 30 minutes. Pour over the fruit in the jars and seal. Process in a boiling-water bath for 15 minutes.